What do Alaskans, Austrians, and New Zealanders have in common? All three stunning locations are graced with colorful ribbons that light the night sky, known as the Northern and Southern lights. A phenomenon that lights up the night sky with brilliant streaks of green, red, and purple, admirers of these majestic auroras recently noticed the addition of two new mysterious colors, mauve and white, in 2018. Attributed to a reference from a 2006 child’s movie, Over the Hedge, scientists determined these new colors, known as STEVE (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement) that often appear in a “picket fence” formation, were interestingly not produced by the same scientific principles as their look-alike counterparts. 

 

Theories were few and far between as to the science behind this kaleidoscope of colors until University of California (Berkeley) graduate Claire Gasque proposed an explanation for these strange occurrences. Confident in her research, Gasque is urging NASA to assist in her research efforts by sending a rocket directly into the center of the aurora.

 

Delving into Uncharted Territory 

As the sun enters its 11th-year active cycle, scientists like Gasque are capitalizing on this rare period in history where STEVE is most active and subsequently visible. Triggered by solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), the key to understanding STEVE may be closer than we think. According to a recent proposal, Gasque suggests that an electric field running parallel to the earth and existing far above the normal range where aurora typically forms is the most likely explanation for spurring this colorful event. If Claire’s hypothesis is correct, this discovery could have insurmountable implications for how scientists understand the correlation between energy transferred from Earth’s magnetosphere to the ionosphere.

 

Understanding The Physics 

To understand the science behind STEVE and picket fences, we must first understand how common auroras are produced. Simply put, auroras occur when particles in Earth’s magnetosphere are energized by solar wind, sending these newly energized particles spinning around the Earth’s magnetic field lines and eventually toward its poles. Once the particles reach Earth’s poles, they are excited by a collision with oxygen and nitrogen molecules. Upon relaxation of the molecules, the oxygen held within emits frequencies of colorful light, green and red, with a notably blue emission line. 

 

While normal auroras produce emission lines, STEVE is unique in that it occurs at a much lower altitude, does not emit blue light, and rather centers around frequencies of mauve and white. After intensive studies into the origin of this anomaly, Gasque suggests, utilizing the physical model of the ionosphere, that a moderate parallel electric field could subsequently “accelerate electrons to an energy that would excite oxygen and nitrogen and generate the spectrum of light observed from the picket fence.” In short, Gasque notes that it would be impossible to produce the frequencies of colors found in STEVE, as they must come from a lower altitude than typical auroras.

 

In a recent statement, Gasque reiterated that she has only scratched the surface of this scientific mystery. She and her colleagues on this project have proposed sending a rocket off the coast of Alaska, in accordance with the Low Cost Access to Space (LCAS), directly into STEVE to fill in the blanks of their research. 

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